I crossed my arms over my chest. “You just compared me to their illicit affairs.”

He let out a sigh, dropping into a high-back leather chair. “What got you pissed off – again – that made you want to leave?”

I pressed my lips together and turned around, walking for the door.

“Tessa McAuliffe,” he called out, and I stopped in my tracks.

Spinning around, I glared at him. “I couldn’t care less,” I told him. “And I’m not angry.”

“No, but you’re a hell of a lot of trouble,” he retorted. “I think that’s what I like most about you. You’re worth every second of fucking frustration you give me.”

He relaxed into the chair, his head resting on the hand he’d laid on the armrest.

I inched closer, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Have you slept with her?”

“Yes.”

I let out a quiet breath. I didn’t like that.

“When was the last time?” I asked.

He kept his eyes on mine and spoke calmly. “A couple months ago.”

I got closer, hating everything I was hearing but unable to stop the conversation. Of course he’d slept with her. She was beautiful and sophisticated, and I was a hot mess.

I cleared my throat, my gaze faltering. “Were you exclusive with her?”

“No.”

I moved my lips, barely getting the words out. “How many are there at one time?”

“Many.”

I felt my chest shake, and I looked away, feeling my eyes burning.

So he didn’t do monogamous relationships. No one kept his attention for long.

But that’s what I wanted, right? I was the same. We were the same.

So why was what he told me so hard to hear?

“Jesus, you’re stupid.”

I shot my eyes up, seeing him shake his head and look down on me like I was pathetic.

He rose from the chair and walked toward me. “You’re young and naive.”

I breathed hard, pinching my eyebrows together and scowling.

“You ask the dumbest questions, and you’re having the tantrum of a child,” he charged. “It bores me.”

I growled low, ready to leave, but he took my face in his hands and spoke hard, his voice and the heat of his breath taking me over.

“Yeah, I’ve had women,” he admitted, baring his teeth. “Lots of women. I’m thirty-five fucking years old, for Christ’s sake.” He shook my head slightly. “Tessa McAuliffe is a beautiful woman, and we’ve enjoyed each other many times.”

I rammed my palm into his chest, but he didn’t budge. “Many times?” I raged.

He nodded, getting in my face. “Yeah, many times.”

But as I felt my eyes pool with tears, he came closer and grazed my lips with his. “All before you,” he whispered, making my breath stop. “There hasn’t been anyone since you.”

I stayed still, needing to pull away but wanting to stay.

“That’s why you’re stupid.” He grabbed the backs of my thighs and lifted me onto the pool table. “Why the hell would I want her or anyone else when I’ve got this?”

And he pulled up my dress, pulled my panties to the side, exposing my pussy, and dove down, capturing my clit in his mouth.

My eyes rolled and my head fell back as his hand pushed the top half of my body down to the table.

“Tyler,” I cried out. “You have to stop.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to keep the tornado low in my belly from building further, but he was going too damn hard.

His lips covered my clit, sucking it in between his teeth and warming me with his hot breath against my entrance. He was sucking so hard.

And then he began dragging his tongue up and down my length, switching between that and more sucking as I slowly fell backward on the table. Reaching behind my knees, he pushed them up to where they nearly touched my shoulders, opening me completely for him.

My thighs instantly tensed, wanting to close, because I felt so exposed, but he started kissing and biting and do everything that drove me mad.

“The door’s not locked,” I pleaded.

But then he plunged his tongue inside me, and I cried out.

“Oh, God,” I gasped, my pussy pulsing so hard I could barely think of anything except the need to fill it.

“Tyler, the lock,” I gasped, whimpering. “Please.”

I felt his mouth leave my skin, and I looked down to see his eyebrow cocked.

“I thought you liked standing in the middle of burning rooms,” he challenged.

Asshole.

He smirked and walked over, turning the lock on the door. Striding back to me in long steps, he slid his arms under my thighs and pulled me to the edge of the table. He then hooked his fingers in my panties and slid them down my legs, my heels having long since fallen off.

He dipped back down, lapping at my clit and swirling his tongue around the nub as he worked to unfasten his belt.

“When Tessa’s happy, she smiles,” he commented against my skin. “When she’s angry, she smiles.”

I threaded my fingers through his hair, listening.

He rose and pulled me up, reaching behind me and unzipping my dress. “You’re the complete opposite,” he said, staring into my eyes. “You say what you think and you refuse to indulge people you can’t stand. You’re like a ball of fire I can never hold for too long.”

He pulled down the top of my dress, bra straps with it, and pushed me back down to palm my breasts and rub his thumbs over my nipples.

I groaned, letting my eyes fall closed.

“You belong in my bed every night, and I fucking hate that I can’t have you there,” he gritted out, his hands working between our bodies. “I want to buy you shit just to have you throw it back in my face, and I want to fly you to Fiji just so I can rip a bikini off of you.” I felt the hot tip of his cock at my entrance, and I could feel the wetness between my legs.

“I said my dick was yours, and I meant it,” he breathed out, grabbing hold of my hips as he slammed his dick inside of me.

I cried out, feeling the sweet ache of him stretching me. He clamped a hand over my mouth, pounding into me harder and harder. I loved the feel of him, how he fit me so perfectly. I loved the smell and taste of him, both of which excited and calmed me.

But what I loved most was his eyes watching me as he stood above me.

“You’ve been a bit of a brat today,” he scolded.

I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut.

“You were jealous, weren’t you?” he asked.

I bit my bottom lip, groaning as he took his hand away from my mouth and began to rub circles on my clit.

“Yes,” I breathed out.

“Why?”

I swallowed, my mouth like a desert from the exertion. “She talked to me about you,” I started, my breasts bouncing back and forth with his thrusts. “She talks about you as if she knows more about you. She gets to touch you in public and call you ‘Tyler.’ ”

He came down, never once breaking pace as his face hovered over mine.

“She’s not getting any of this, baby,” he whispered. “She’s not the one I can’t stop watching or thinking about.”

I gave a weak smile, and his knuckles grazed my cheek.

My pussy began to tighten and clench, and he rose up, thrusting harder and faster.

“Oh, God,” I panted.

“Now are you going to be good?” he challenged, holding my hip in one hand and my breast in another.

I arched my neck back, taking everything he was giving me and closing my eyes. “Yes,” I whispered.

But as the orgasm exploded between my legs and floated up to my belly, I smiled, knowing I could never keep that promise. And he didn’t want me to, either.

EIGHTEEN

TYLER

Life never follows your plan.

The truth was you could spend countless hours planning and preparing, and the only thing you could count on once you’d got your plan set was that it would be the one way things won’t happen.

This year was supposed to be about Christian – creating a relationship with him – and my future in the Senate.

But all it takes is for one woman to look up at you, her eyes saying everything that she doesn’t want to admit out loud, and all of a sudden she’s all you’re thinking about.